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(More customer reviews)As an woman with autoimmune condition, Graves' disease, I have been desperately looking for information to help me in my efforts to improve my health. I am very grateful for Mary Shomon's book, because it's a fresh approach, and doesn't back off of looking at alternative and natural medicine options, but does include all the standard information (symptoms, how it's diagnosed, traditional treatments) that some people want.
As for me, I struggled for years with symptoms that were vague, and were pooh-poohed by the numerous doctors, until finally hitting on the right doctor to get a diagnosis. That was when my horror story just began, because I had to go through the dreadful maze of antithyroid drugs, radioiodine and thyroid treatment. What a mess. Since that time, I have suspected that I might have other conditions as well [symptoms of Raynaud's, arthritis, hair loss, I am even worried at times that I might be getting lupus], but most doctors look at me like I am losing my mind when I raise the risk of autoimmune disease, or complain about these symptoms as related to my Graves' disease.
I learned a great deal reading about the more than 30 conditions discussed in depth. They're grouped according to the organs or systems under autoimmune attack (like hair & skin, gastrointestinal, and such), which I've not seen done anywhere else.
There's a chapter that's just a list of symptoms and various things that put you at risk for autoimmune diseases. It's particularly detailed -- that list alone would have made this book worth its weight in gold to me back when I was struggling with mysterious symptoms and my GP and I couldn't figure it out. It would have saved me months of fear, and helped us narrow down the field pretty quickly, instead of going to a neurologist, an infectious disease specialist and a gynecologist before they figured out I had Graves' disease.
The writer has included information I had not seen in any other book, including the use of antibiotic and anti-pathogen therapies, how supplements and diet can help the immune system without suppressing it, the role of diet, detoxification and food allergies in autoimmune disease, and natural antiviral therapies. I'm taking the book to my latest practitioner [my current doctor is actually pretty understanding on these conditions] and he and I will use the book to continue finetuning my efforts to feel better. (FWIW, I'm also using Elaine Moore's terrific book on Graves' disease, Mary Shomon's other book which is on thyroid problems, and the Paleo Diet, which are all helping as well.)
As a fan of integrative medicine, I'm glad to see someone finally look at autoimmune disease from this perspective, and offer me some practical things I can actually do to help my own health. I can wholeheartedly recommend this book.
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